172 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



States. In several other regions horticulturists have found 

 grafting more successful. Budding is best done at the begin- 

 ning of the growing season, when the sap is flowing freely. 

 Stock-plants should be f to i inch in diameter. Well-matured 

 budwood from which the leaves have dropped is preferable, 

 and it should be gray, not green, in color. The buds should be 

 cut li inches in length, and should be inserted exactly as in 

 budding avocados or mangos. Waxed tape, raffia, and soft 

 cotton string have proved satisfactory for tying. Three or 

 four weeks after insertion of bud, the wrapping should be 

 loosened and the stock lopped at a point 5 or 6 inches above 

 the bud. Wrapping should not be removed entirely until 

 the bud has made a growth of several inches. 



For grafting, two-year-old seedlings are to be preferred 

 (for budding they may be somewhat younger). The cleft- 

 graft is the method usually employed. The cion should be 

 well-matured wood from which the leaves have dropped. C. 

 H. Gable wrote from Madeira in 1914 : "I have been surprised 

 to find how easily the annona is grafted. My first few efforts 

 were not very successful, but later I grafted them in all sizes 

 from seedlings smaller than a lead pencil to old trees, and more 

 than 90% have grown beautifully." Gable found it advisable 

 after making the graft to paint the cion and the top of the stock 

 (around the cleft) with melted wax, to prevent evaporation. 



Old seedling trees can be top- worked without difficulty. For 

 this purpose cleft-grafting is used more commonly than any 

 other method. 



The pollination of the cherimoya has been investigated in 

 Florida by P. J. Wester, and in Madeira by C. H. Gable. It 

 has been thought that the scanty productiveness of many 

 trees might be due to insufficient pollination, and the inves- 

 tigations tend to confirm this belief. Gable reports that 

 normally in Madeira not more than 5 per cent of the flowers 

 produced develop into fruits. By hand-pollinating them, 



